F**king Up The Buttons On A Babygrow: A Memoir Of Twenty First Century Parenthood (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
This book starts out with a tense seen in the preemie surgery unit at the hospital, and then parades through several episodes of parenting 101, then finishes up back in the same OR - with a life hanging in the balance.I got this book from a list of titles that are supposed to be funny - and this story had its funny moments, but I also cried right along with the author when it seemed like life had pulled the rug out from under him. I laughed out loud one time reading this book. I spent the rest of the book alternating between mild disdain and disappointment. Portrayed as an honest and comedic look at parenting in the US, this book is a letdown on a few levels. First, overusing the words sh*t and f*ck don't immediately make something funny. I understand language for impact, but in this book it is just transparent obligatory swearing because the author lacked any better way to express himself.The book tries to follow a pattern of "humorous story about a parenting mishap" followed by "heartening message about reality, acceptance, and real parenting." I found many, if not most, of the parenting mishap stories less than humorous and the attempts at redemption through heartening message half-assed and hollow. Not every single time. There were a couple funny anecdotes. There were a couple of good points. But most of the time I found myself cringing while reading, thinking, "I really hope people don't read this and think that this behaviour is ok - or funny."The end of the book was totally different. It did not try too hard to be humorous (it was a more serious section), and it was quite moving and well written. That said, I probably shouldn't have read that chapter while pregnant since it was also pretty scary.
What do You think about F**king Up The Buttons On A Babygrow: A Memoir Of Twenty First Century Parenthood (2013)?
HIL - AR - I - OUS! Very real but foul mouthed recounting of the infant/toddler years
—vargesmarie
Upped my respect for parents of any era, and it validated our choice not to go there.
—youmna
Great book if you have children. It's so very funny and real!
—deep
I absolutely loved this book! I laughed the entire time.
—charms
